When the Seattle Seahawks crushed the Denver Broncos in this year’s Super Bowl it culminated the dramatic and swift rise of a new NFL powerhouse. Largely credited with that success was dynamic Head Coach Pete Carroll, who was instrumental in recruiting, grooming, leading and instilling teamwork among his players. But the buzzword that reverberated throughout the Seahawks’ ascent was culture — or more precisely a culture of winning. A similar scenario to what was unfolding on the gridiron was concurrently brewing nearly 1,700 miles due south in the field of security systems integration.

Also sharing an alliterative connection with the Seattle Seahawks, Securadyne Systems was likewise not even on the competitive radar when this decade began, but has seemingly come out of nowhere to give some of the industry’s leading organizations a run for their money. And like its analogous pro football counterpart, Securadyne has a commanding presence at the helm — President and CEO Carey Boethel — who has also built his empire predicated on the mantra of a winning culture.

“I am admittedly very competitive and enjoy winning — in fact, winning is one of our core values,” he says. “We thrive on winning. I also care deeply about this industry and believe that Securadyne can make a real difference.” At the heart of it all is an emphasis on ethics and integrity that guides the pursuit of high performance and accountability that delivers consistent and reliable customer-centric solutions.

But enough with the hyperbole, the proof is in the pudding, and Securadyne has been enjoying its just desserts. How fast can a security integration company go from zero to $70 million? In this case the answer is a head-spinningly fast two years during which time Boethel also grew ranks from just himself to a force of more than 300 employees operating out of 16 locations. Back to the pigskin comparison, this rapid rise has principally been achieved via shrewd scouting and “drafting” prime talent and making key acquisitions. That has allowed Securadyne to score in the high double-digits organically as well as gain large chunks of ground acquisitively.

“I always wanted to build something meaningful, and starting Securadyne was both a means to achieve that vision and an opportunity to fill a service gap in our marketplace,” says Boethel. “We want to remain innovative and nimble like a small entrepreneurial start-up while at the same time employing the rigor and discipline of a mature professional organization. Finding the right balance is extremely difficult, but we believe doing so creates a real and sustainable competitive advantage.”

Today, Securadyne delivers designed, engineered and installed solutions that include integrated access control, video surveillance, intrusion detection, fire/life safety and more along with a particular emphasis on cloud-based hosted and managed services to a wide range of commercial and industrial clients. Its vertical markets of particular focus include health care, education, energy, municipal and critical infrastructure, government, and biomedical/pharmaceutical. An intimate understanding of these industries’ unique needs and compliance issues allows Securadyne to not only help its customers mitigate risk but also improve productivity and efficiency.

To get inside the Xs and Os of how this systems integrator is blitzing the competition, SSI huddled at length with its chief architect. Boethel, whose 21 years of security industry experience include serving as a vice president for Siemens Building Technologies, opens up his playbook to share the tactics behind his strategic game plan. Joining in on the conversation is newcomer to his coaching staff Ron Oetjen, who founded IAS in 2004.

Before kicking it off though, Boethel gives a glimpse into his meticulous attention to detail by explaining the significance of the company’s name: “It denotes three core characteristics. First, security is our core competency; second, ‘cura,’ the Latin root for ‘to take care of,’ speaks to our commitment toward customer service and managed services; and lastly, ‘dyne,’ Latin for ‘a unit of force,’ speaks to the disruptive nature of our approach.” In any language, Securadyne is becoming synonymous with success.

With that, let’s join the action as Boethel and Oetjen tackle the hard questions and call out their goals to go …

What drove you to start with the company? Did you feel for some time you’d wanted to do your own thing?
Carey Boethel: I started in the industry in 1993 and had always wanted to build something special, something meaningful. I’ve always had entrepreneurial aspirations, but it was less about doing my own thing than it was doing something unique, in some ways unprecedented. We’re very passionate at Securadyne about standardization and creating a consistent customer experience. While there are a lot of really good companies in our space, and very formidable competitors, there are not many, if any, who can really service large, enterprise-class customers on a broad scale and absolutely consistently. That’s part of our charter, our core values, and it’s what drives us.
Ron Oetjen: It’s important people understand that entrepreneurial spirit helps you launch a business, but it’s the vision, what you’re trying to do that actually keeps you in there day to day, and keeps you motivated. That’s what separates Securadyne from many entrepreneurial endeavors I’ve come across. People every day start businesses, but not many have that vision.

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